4 Short Stories

Ok, but remember it, because this will be the last time I will tell you.

Green Ireland, beautiful Ireland. Of course rain makes things green, the grass ,the trees and other such vegetation. Ireland gets plenty of rain from the clouds coming from the west over the Atlantic ocean. The first land the clouds come over of course is Ireland. The temperature change in the atmosphere releases tremendous amounts of rain on Ireland. That's why England refers to Ireland as, "Our little umbrella."

Oh well ! What I want to tell you about is Your Great Grandmother , Mary O"Donnell. Her parents had twelve children . Seven girls and five boys. Mr. O"Donnell wasn't a big man but he was strong physically and strong mentally. He was an excellent farmer and worked him self and the rest of the family very hard. The O"Donnell farm was located in County Mayo in the western part of Ireland. The year was 1909. Modern methods of farming were many years away. They worked from sun up to sun down and that required four meals a day. The work was hard, and all were lean and strong.

Two of the boys , Matt and Tom were very good boxers and fought in the ring , usually in the town of West Port, on Saturday nights. There were times when Matt or Tom had no one to spar with in their boxing ring located back of the farm house. Their brothers not being available, they could always depend on Mary. Yes, their 19 year old sister, to put on the gloves. Mary was in the ring sparring with Matt as Mrs. O"Donnell approached . Mary turned to say something to her mother , when Matts fist hit her in the right eye. Down she went.

"What in heavens name are you doing to your sister,?" screamed Mrs. O"Donnell.

"I'm sorry Mary , Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. Mother I had no intention of knocking Mary down. Mary do you forgive me ?"

"Of course I do Matthew, but if I was you I'd be on my guard from now on."Mary replied.

Mary went in the house to help her mother with the usual work done by the women.

Your Great Grandmother ended up with a black eye. She said explaining the black eye to people was one of her most embarrassing times.

Every night after supper the entire family said the Rosary. If a neighbor came by to visit or any other reason and the family was saying the rosary the neighbor would join in. It was a way of life for everyone. I think you should know why the Catholic faith is so important to the Irish people. Many years ago the English tried to do away with the Catholic religion in Ireland. Oliver Cromwell and his English soldiers came to Ireland and destroyed every Catholic church they came to. Cromwell thought, now the Irish will not have their churches to pray in and so they will lose their Catholic Faith. Boy was he wrong. What the people did was make every home a church. They hung paintings on the walls of Jesus, Mary or the Saints. They burned candles, and they prayed, especially the holy Rosary. Cromwells idea backfired on him. The faith of the Irish was stronger than ever. Remember this children. When the Irish left Ireland, they weren't told to make a fortune, but they were all told by their parents , brothers , sisters and friends," KEEP the FAITH" !

One day Mr.O"Donnell said, "Mary go tell your sister Ann to come to the parlor."

"Ann! Ann, Father wants you in the parlor. He has a gentleman with him, you know what that means".Ann went to the kitchen to look in the mirror. Satisfied, she walked into the parlor. Sitting there was a man of about forty years of age. Ann didn't like what she saw.

Her Father got right to the point. "Ann I want you to meet the man who is going to be your husband. His name is Thomas Quinn, Tom this is my daughter Ann."

"I'll not be marrying the likes of him." Ann replied in a very defiant tone. She folded her arms and stood her ground, and waited for her Fathers wrath.

"Tom , I'll be asking you to leave now lad, as I want to have a word with me daughter. Never in all me born days did ever I think that one of my daughters would be so obstinate. I don't know what happening to the children of today. Where, where have I gone wrong ?"

Her Father couldn't get her to budge. Ann had a mind of her own. This is just how he taught his children to be. Honest, conscious of God in all things, good work habits and then go ahead and do the right thing without fear. That's just what Ann did.

Later Mary spoke with Ann. "I understand you didn't care for the lad, we could hear Father all the way to the barn, but I knew you wouldn't change your mind. I want you to know that I plan on going to America as soon as I can."

"Mary you can't go until Sara sends the money. It's been almost a year since she left. When she earns enough money she'll send it. Oh Mary ,with you gone that will be three sisters in America, how we will miss you."

Mary said, "Ann I plan on going to England and work as a servant, and save enough money to buy passage to America , how does that sound.?"

"I think it's a grand idea, Mary. Your 19 years old and Father will be bring some one home for you as your approaching spinsterhood. I'm 24 years old and a spinster, time is running out for me. Go to America Mary and take the blessings of all the family with you."

At the supper table a few nights later Mr.O"Donnell announced to the family that Mary would be leaving for America with a stop over in England to earn her passage. All the boys agreed to shear extra sheep to pay Mary's way to England. Mary's passage to America would cost about $25.00 in American money. Quite a large sum of money.

Young folks leaving the farm was a normal occurrence in Ireland. The farm was always left to the oldest son who would then take care of his parents for the rest of their lives. The rest of the children would seek their fortunes elsewhere.

Mr.O"Donnell stated flatly that there would no wake held for Mary . Many of the Irish held a wake for the one leaving Ireland, for hardly any one ever returned. Oh those sentimental and tender hearted Irish. No wonder the world loves them so !

Mary's going away party included many ,"Keep the Faith," words of advice.

When Mary arrived in London she wasted no time in finding a job. The employment agency placed Mary in the home of Lord and Lady Reginald Cornelius Peabody III as a servant of the lowest class. Mary was surprised to find that the high ranking servants actually used the new help as their own servants. The pay was small, the hours long, but this was what Mary expected. She was given her room and board, that allowed her to save her wages to buy passage to America.